Newly Elected chairman Howard Dean gives a wide smile during his address to the general session of the winter meetings on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2005, in Washington. Dean is taking over for outgoing chairman Terry McAuliffe. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) less

Newly Elected chairman Howard Dean gives a wide smile during his address to the general session of the winter meetings on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2005, in Washington. Dean is taking over for outgoing chairman Terry ... more

Photo: EVAN VUCCI

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Newly Elected chairman Howard Dean, left, and outgoing chairman Terry McAuliffe, right, raise their hands after an address to the general session of the winter meetings on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2005, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) less

Newly Elected chairman Howard Dean, left, and outgoing chairman Terry McAuliffe, right, raise their hands after an address to the general session of the winter meetings on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2005, in ... more

2005-02-13 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- Democrats defiantly promised Saturday to wrest power from Republicans even in conservative strongholds in the South and West as they unanimously elected Howard Dean, the blunt-speaking former Vermont governor, their new party chairman.

As the party struggles to explain its losses in November, Dean told Democrats they need to adjust tactics, not their core beliefs, in order to expand their base and reclaim the party's majority status.

"People will vote for Democrats in Texas, in Utah, in West Virginia if we knock on their doors," Dean told the party officials assembled in Washington.

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Dean said he expects to "pretty much be living in red states in the South and the West for quite a while," but he rejected the notion that Democrats must grow tougher on national security or soften their stances on social issues like abortion or gay rights in order to win elections.

The 447 party delegates also elected Rep. Mike Honda, a third-term congressman from San Jose, to one of five vice-chair positions.

Democrats have been soul-searching since November, tugged in two directions by those who say the party must grow more strident and vocal in their opposition to Republicans, and those who say the party must reach out to centrists and find ways to better communicate with swing voters in Republican- dominated areas.

Party officials gathered at a Washington hotel over the past three days made clear that they still view the Democrats as the nation's majority party, narrowly edged in recent elections due to wartime concerns over security, or wronged by faulty vote counts.

Vendors sold posters, including one with a picture of President Bush and the inscription "Keeping our queer eye on the stupid guy," and a book titled "What We Do Now," with two dozen prescriptions for the party, including a chapter titled "Kerry Won."

"I'm sick and tired of the so-called experts saying there's something wrong with Democrats," said Alex Gallardo Rooker, vice chair of the California Democratic Party, delivering a nominating speech for Dean. "The truth is, we have nothing to apologize for."

The voices of moderate Democrats, who have called on the party to adopt a more hawkish national defense policy, or moderate its stances on social policies like abortion or gay rights, were largely unspoken at the gathering.

Dean, 56, formerly practiced medicine. He gained a national following in 2003 for his outspoken criticism of Bush and the war in Iraq, which propelled him to the top of the Democratic field for the party's presidential nomination in opinion polls before the voting began. But his candidacy crashed, and he quit the race one year ago this week without winning a single primary.

Well-known figure

Dean's quick comeback makes him among the most recognizable figures to ever assume the Democrats' top party post, and his supporters expect that he'll infuse energy into a party searching for a national spokesman.

Dean appeared stylistically restrained in his speech Saturday, avoiding the strident tones that marked his presidential stump speeches, or the much- publicized verbal yowl after his third-place finish in last year's Iowa caucus.

Dean told reporters that any change in his manner is "not intentional."

"I'm not a Zen person. It's hard to answer stylistic questions. I am who I am," Dean said.

Yet Dean's tendency to speak his mind has excited opposition Republicans, who believe his selection as Democratic chief will further alienate centrist voters.

The conservative National Review magazine, which ran a picture of Dean on its cover in 2003 with the caption, "Please, Nominate This Man," called on Democrats this week to "Please, please, please, select this man."

Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman offered a more restrained response, saying, "Howard Dean's energy and passion will add to the political discourse in this country, and he will be a strong leader for his party."

Democrats face a hard road back to control in Congress, where Republicans hold their largest majority since 1929, and in state capitols, where Republicans hold 28 governorships.

Infrastructure strong

At the same time, the party's infrastructure is in strong shape. Four years ago, when outgoing chair Terry McAuliffe took over, the party faced an $18 million deficit. Even under tighter campaign finance rules, the party raised $400 million for the last election and has opened a new headquarters on Capitol Hill.

The election losses also have had a unifying effect on a party renowned for its internal squabbles, and which is now united behind expanding the base, even as it resisted the suggestion that the party's message needed refinement to make it more successful.

"The way to get people not to be skeptical about you is to show up and talk and say what you believe," said Dean, citing his experience as governor in a rural state. "We can change the party only by competing in all 50 states. "

Dean received a strong response when he delivered a scathing attack on Bush's budget proposal, reviving a favorite line from his presidential run by calling it "Enron-style accounting."

Dean's blunt message echoed the voices of party leaders throughout the gathering.

John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator who was the party's vice presidential nominee in 2004, accused Republicans of valuing "one thing: wealth."

"George Bush's ownership society is nothing but an exclusive club with their doors closed to people who work for a living," Edwards said.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco called Bush's budget "not only financially reckless, it is morally irresponsible."

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico was one of the only speakers to acknowledge before the party faithful that "some of us have been through some difficult times in some recent elections."

Richardson called on Democrats to rely more on their successes in the states, saying the party should be "taking cues from Democrats west of the Potomac River, not east."

Dean, who had campaigned actively for the chairman's job since November, emerged the victor in a crowded field. Some Democrats had expressed concern that Dean's liberal image -- something he cultivated during the Democratic primaries but was not a part of his image in Vermont -- would not serve the party. Some Democrats in Congress bristled at Dean's dismissive comments toward Washington during his presidential run.

However, Dean, by far the best-known name in the race, was strongly supported by the state party chairs, and each of his competitors had dropped out by the time the vote was conducted.

Dean, standing before the Democratic faithful, marveled at his unlikely ascension to the party's hierarchy.

"If you had told me a year ago that I'd be standing here as doing this as chairman of the Democratic Party, I would not have believed you, and neither would a lot of other people," Dean said.